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You know you’ve made it when you can throw a birthday party that draws guests like an NBA star in addition to a variety of high-powered business leaders.

Later this week, RedRover Sales & Marketing Strategy is hosting an invitation-only bash at FedExForum that will include a meet-and-greet session with Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen. In addition to networking opportunities with the business crowd on hand, the firm will also give an early peek at its revamped website launching this month and will toast the release of CEO Lori Turner-Wilson’s new book, “WOOF! Why Ordinary Organizations Fail.”

Part two of a two-part series. Challenging finances and what feels like an onslaught of “bad press” can be part of the nonprofit experience. Addressing these is what leadership is all about. Keep an eye to the future, talk with your donors and stakeholders, and find a game-changing way to engage the community. This is the story of Regional One Health and its foundation.

Health care is always in the news: advances in health care technology, groundbreaking research, and health care disparities are just a few. Yet there’s one story we rarely hear: the role of hospital or medical center related health care foundations.

The Memphis and Shelby County Office of Sustainability will hold a public meeting about the Mid-South Regional Greenprint and Sustainability Plan Tuesday, May 6, at Riverview Community Center, 1891 Kansas St. Drop by for 10 minutes during the open house, 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., or attend the presentation and Q&A from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Visit midsouthgreenprint.org.

ArtsMemphis will host the Audiences Everywhere Workshop Tuesday, May 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Sedgwick CMS training offices, 1100 Ridgeway Loop. Attendees will learn strategic ideas about how to grow their audiences, develop new donors and raise public awareness. Cost is free. Register at artsmemphis.org/events or email lboyer@artsmemphis.org.

The first phase of The Regional Medical Center at Memphis’ expansion plan is nearing completion, with the Firefighters Regional Burn Center set to double in size by the end of the year. The expansion will allow the hospital to better meet the demands of an increasing patient load.

A decade ago, about 15 out of every 1,000 infants born in Shelby County were dying before the age of 1 – one of the worst rates in the U.S., and worse than in many developing countries.

In Shelby County, many infants die because they are born too early or too small, said Dr. Giancarlo Mari, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and a leading specialist in maternal and fetal medicine. Birth defects, prematurity and maternal complications from pregnancy also are leading causes of infant deaths in the first year of life, he said.

On Saturday, March 31, as more than 800 guests entered The Peabody hotel’s Grand Ballroom for The MED fundraiser “A Soul Celebration,” the lyrics of “Imagine” hummed through the air. Attendees were soon treated to a video outlining the vision for “Tomorrow’s MED” and setting the theme for the evening.

The Four Tops, The Temptations Review, Thelma Houston, and Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. will bring their legendary brand of soul to The Peabody hotel’s Grand Ballroom Saturday, March 31, during “Med Night: A Soul Celebration.”

Heavy soul and deep grooves were in the air at The Peabody hotel’s Grand Ballroom Friday night as 14 soul legends took the stage to raise money for The Regional Medical Center at Memphis and to celebrate two-time Grammy Award winner Peabo Bryson’s 60th birthday.

More than a dozen legendary soul artists plan to bring down the house – in this case The Peabody hotel – during a one-night-only, blowout concert benefiting The MED Foundation, the fundraising arm of The Regional Medical Center at Memphis.

Patients in a hospital bed could always use one more supportive visit, gentle touch or encouraging word.

Sometimes, that’s also the case for the hospitals themselves.

The Regional Medical Center at Memphis, which has been buffeted in recent years by financial challenges, is one example. The safety-net hospital has a new CEO, is executing on a turnaround plan and is making strides to improve features of the hospital both large and small.

About six months ago the team at RedRover noticed quarters were getting a little cramped. The sales and marketing company is one of about 26 percolating in the business incubator EmergeMemphis.

And although RedRover hadn’t yet been there the three to five years typical for companies in the program, its phenomenal business growth and expanding staff made managing partner Lori Turner began thinking it might be time to move into their own space. ”We just felt it was time to have our own footprint — our own space,” Turner said.

When Memphians and those in the surrounding areas are faced with the trauma of a gunshot wound, life-threatening burn or car crash, chances are good that they’ll end up at The Regional Medical Center at Memphis.

A dollar will be donated to the foundation each time a new visitor goes to the foundation’s Web site, www.themedfoundation.org, until Jan. 31. The “5,000 Touches” campaign is intended to make more people aware of the foundation’s work and giving opportunities.

“With this challenge, for every unique visitor who goes to the site between now and Jan. 31, a group of donors will make a dollar donation up to $5,000,” said Tammie Ritchey, the executive director of The MED Foundation.

Visitors also have the option of making a donation themselves when they visit the site. The MED Foundation is in the midst of a “Giving More Birthdays” campaign as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of its Level 1 trauma center.

“When you think about all the people who have been served there and how many more birthdays they have had that they wouldn’t have had if the trauma center weren’t here, it’s amazing,” Ritchey said. “Trauma is something that affects everybody. It’s not just an inner-city issue.”

Toward life

The foundation has several restricted funds to which people may contribute, including community outreach to combat infant mortality and low birth weight. About 5,000 babies are born at The MED each year, Ritchey said.

“One of the programs that we want to expand is called the Sunrise program,” she said. “The Sunrise program is the only hospital-based program in the city for pregnant teens. What it does is if you have a first-time pregnant teen mom, we have a program that works with her to make sure she gets appropriate prenatal care so that the baby is not a low birth weight baby or a premature baby.”

However, more than 70 percent of the foundation’s financial support goes to purchase equipment. One recent purchase was a Gyrus generator, which allows surgeons in the High-Risk Obstetrics Center to do procedures with less blood loss to patients by sealing tissue with heat.

The foundation has about $6.1 million in assets. Of that amount, $4.8 million is restricted to the hospital’s centers of excellence, which include the Firefighters Regional Burn Center, the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center, the Wound Center, the Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center and the High Risk Obstetrics Center.

Giving opportunities

The MED also has two areas of specialty people can donate to, the Adult Special Care Center (treating AIDS/HIV patients) and the Diggs-Kraus Sickle Cell Center.

Unrestricted gifts allow the foundation more flexibility to support the needs of the hospital throughout the year. The foundation raises money for nonoperational special projects, such as state-of-the-art equipment or training for staff.

The MED has had a difficult year because of financial problems that have led to staff reductions. Richey said the hospital employees are some of the foundation’s most consistent backers.

“More than three-quarters of our employees give back to the foundation,” she said. “The employees this last fiscal year, they were responsible for giving more than $150,000 to the foundation.

“I’m not talking about just the vice presidents on the executive hall. I’m talking about our housekeepers. One hundred percent of our housekeepers are giving something to The MED Foundation. It’s also people who work in food and nutrition services, who work in transportation.

“It’s across the board. I think that really shows confidence in The MED when you have people who work here every day who support it financially and continue to support it. Even when The MED had layoffs, people still kept giving.”

The fundraising arm of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, The MED Foundation, has granted more than $29,000 to The MED for a Nerve Integrity Monitor.

The monitor allows a surgeon to map a patient’s nerves through complicated anatomy prior to surgery. The monitor is used during surgery for procedures on the head and neck. It reduces the risk of vocal cord paralysis. It is especially useful in procedures involving the seventh cranial nerve, which allows movement of the mouth and blinking of the eyes, and the 10th cranial nerve, which is used for swallowing and speaking.

By the time Kelly Bolton Jordan had prematurely given birth at The Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The Med) to a frail, tiny baby girl who weighed barely more than one pound, the worst of her fears was over.